Jonathan Lynn
Jonathan Lynn ( born April 3, 1943 in Bath, Somerset, England ) is a British film director, screenwriter and actor.
Life
Lynn, a grandson of Abba Eban, studied at Pembroke College, Cambridge and obtained his MS in Law. He was a member of the Cambridge University Footlights Club and performed with the revue Cambridge Circus at the side of John Cleese and Graham Chapman on Broadway. In 1967 he played in the musical Fiddler on the Roof at the Lononder Westend. In the following years he appeared in various sitcoms, for some of which he also wrote the books. The British television audience he was, among other things as an Irish medical student Danny Hooley in the sitcom Doctor in the House in memory. He wrote screenplays for both these, as well as the subsequent productions of the series Doctor (Doctor at Large, Doctor in Charge, Doctor at Sea and Doctor on the Go ). Together with Antony Jay he created the television series Yes, Minister and Yes, Prime Minister, that have been awarded with several BAFTA Awards, as well as the U.S. CableACE Award. From 1977 to 1981 he was artistic director of the Cambridge Theatre Company.
Since 1990, Lynn works mainly as a director of film comedies. His first feature film was made in 1985 in collaboration with John Landis. All Clue was a parody of detective films, the setup and the people were borrowed from the Parker Brothers game Cluedo. Despite a prominent cast with Tim Curry, Madeline Kahn and Christopher Lloyd, the film was commercially not very successful. A special feature was that three different film ends were produced, which were randomly distributed over the film distribution. More successful was his second directorial effort, nuns on the run, with ex- Monty Python Eric Idle and Robbie Coltrane in the lead roles. This enabled him to gain a foothold in the U.S. film industry. His first Hollywood film was My cousin Vinny, who was not only a great commercial success, but was also well received by critics. Marisa Tomei was honored for her performance with the Oscar for best supporting actress and actor Joe Pesci won the American Comedy Award. In 1993 he turned the political satire The Distinguished Gentleman with Eddie Murphy, three years later Trouble with Sergeant Bilko with Steve Martin and Dan Aykroyd, and in 2000 The Whole Nine Yards with Bruce Willis and Matthew Perry.